Magnificent China

Experience a journey through some of China’s most famous sites and attractions.

Commencing in the capital city, Beijing, take a walk along the Great Wall and discover the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. Marvel at the life-sized Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xian and relax while cruising along the mighty Yangtze River. At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding you will see these beloved animals in an environment similar to their natural habitat. Guilin, famous for its scenery, will surprise you with its beauty. The vibrant city of Shanghai is a true representation of modern-day China where you will visit the Yu Gardens and the Old Town.

Savour the many wonderful sights and sounds of China, while you embark on this magnificent journey.

Tour itinerary

DAY 1: AUSTRALIA TO BEIJING

Fly with Cathay Pacific Airways to Beijing for a four night stay. Darwin passengers may depart one day earlier.

DAY 2: BEIJING

Stroll through Tiananmen Square, passing Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum, and visit the Forbidden City. Enjoy a rickshaw ride through the Hutong area. This evening sample the local delicacy, Peking Duck.

DAY 3: BEIJING

Walk along the Great Wall and reflect on the immensity of the material and labour required for its construction. It is more than 5,000km long, stretching from the Shanhaiguan Pass on the east coast to the Gobi Desert in the west. Visit a jade factory and wander through the Summer Palace to admire the landscaped beauty.

DAY 4: BEIJING

Visit the unique 15th-century Temple of Heaven. Your evening entertainment will be an exciting acrobatics performance.

DAY 5: BEIJING TO XIAN

Fly to Xian and visit the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and Little Wild Goose Pagoda. This evening feast on a traditional Shui Jiao Dumpling banquet while enjoying a performance of music and dance dating back to the Tang Dynasty.

DAY 6: XIAN

Explore the UNESCO World Heritage listed Terracotta Warriors and Horses. Stop at the Xian Art Ceramics and Lacquer Exhibition and walk along the ancient City Wall. Stroll through the lively Muslim Quarter and the Islamic food markets.

DAY 7: XIAN TO WUHAN – YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE

Fly to Wuhan. Upon arrival you will be transferred by coach (approximately 4-5 hours) to Yichang to board your cruise for the next four nights along one of the world’s greatest waterways, the Yangtze River.

DAYS 8-10: YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE

Tour the incredible Three Gorges Dam before continuing your cruise along the mighty Yangtze River. You will pass some of the most beautiful scenery in China at the Three Gorges and take shore excursions to explore the fascinating historic and tranquil landscape of the tributaries.

DAY 11: CHONGQING TO CHENGDU

Disembark your cruise in Chongqing this morning and visit the Old Town of Ciqikou before driving to Chengdu.

DAY 12: CHENGDU – LESHAN

Travel to Leshan to view the Grand Buddha. This enormous statue is carved into the side of Lingyun Mountain. It is over 71m tall and wide enough for more than 100 people to sit between its feet. Later you will visit Huanglongxi, an ancient town dating back to the Qing Dynasty, before returning to Chengdu. This evening you will feast on sumptuous Sichuan cuisine.

DAY 13: CHENGDU TO GUILIN

Visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to see these beloved animals in surroundings similar to their natural habitat. Explore the Shu Brocade and Embroidery Museum and then fly to Guilin, one of China’s most beautiful cities.

DAY 14: GUILIN TO YANGSHUO

Cruise along the stunning Li River to Yangshuo for a two night stay. Your journey takes you past tranquil farming and fishing villages and picturesque scenery. The evening is free at your leisure to walk through the cobblestone streets or relax in a streetside café.

DAY 15: YANGSHUO

Explore the beautiful rural countryside around Yangshuo and enjoy the afternoon free at your leisure. This evening watch a display of traditional Cormorant fishing.

DAY 16: YANGSHUO – GUILIN TO SHANGHAI – SUZHOU

Return to Guilin airport, visiting the Reed Flute Caves and Pearl Museum en route. Fly to Shanghai and travel to the ancient canal city of Suzhou, which has a history dating back 2,500 years.

DAY 17: SUZHOU TO SHANGHAI

Explore the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Master of Nets Garden, a traditional silk mill and cruise on a section of the ancient Grand Canal. Return to Shanghai and enjoy traditional Shanghai cuisine for dinner.

DAY 18: SHANGHAI

View the antiques and fine arts at the Shanghai Museum and stroll through the Yu Gardens. Explore the Old Town where cobblestone streets are lined with shops, before walking along the famous Bund.

DAY 19: SHANGHAI

Visit the Pudong district and travel across town to explore the Xintiandi area with its 1920s-style ‘shikumen’ buildings, which are unique to Shanghai. This evening enjoy a cruise along the Huangpu River as your farewell celebration.

DAY 20: DEPART SHANGHAI

This morning is free at your leisure before you are transferred to Shanghai airport to board your overnight flight to Australia.

DAY 21: ARRIVE AUSTRALIA

Arrive home today.

Tour Reviews

"Thank you for a lifetime of superb memories."

Reviewed: Oct 2014

Last September, my wife and I travelled to China and joined your 21 Day Magnificent China Tour. I would like to let you know what an absolutely fabulous time we had. The whole experience was brilliant and all the local tour guides, drivers and staff we came in contact with did a marvellous job.

We would particularly like to comment on our superb national tour guide, Mary. What a wonderful job she did in looking after us. Her knowledge was excellent and the way she managed our group was very skilful. She was always watching out for us and counting to make sure no one was left behind. She was so helpful in answering our questions and translating for us when we needed it. On one occasion, my wife and I really needed assistance and Mary went out of her way to help us. It was something we really appreciated. What a wonderful ambassador Mary is for your company.

Last year, we had a terrific tour of Vietnam with Wendy Wu Tours. Our experience on that tour prompted us to book our China Tour with you. We can’t speak more highly of the quality of both these tours and have recommended your company to all that have asked us about our experiences.

Congratulations Wendy Wu Tours and thank you for a lifetime of superb memories.

Barb and Bruce BuchananNew South Wales

Travelled on: Magnificent China

"My husband and I had the most amazing tour of China with Wendy Wu Tours"

Reviewed: Jul 2014

I am writing this note to let you know that my husband and I had the most amazing tour of China with Wendy Wu Tours. We spent 3 weeks touring this incredible country and enjoying the company of 29 like-minded travellers.

The extremely high standard of this tour would not have been possible without our fabulous national guide, Garry. He is the best ambassador you could ever have for your company and David and I would like to commend him highly on his professionalism, humour, amazing China knowledge and organisation during this trip. We trusted his judgement and decision making everywhere we went. He was very aware of safety at all times. Garry’s fun personality enabled our group to gel together very quickly and I’m sure this is very important for the success of the trip. Many of us had special needs on the trip and he went about meeting these with no fuss or bother.

At one point in our trip our plane was not able to land due to bad weather and we were diverted 400km away from our destination. At no point did Garry appear stressed by the situation. He just went about organising us bus transport, accommodation and food in the middle of the night. We were all confident in his ability to handle the situation and then somehow he managed to reschedule activities that we thought we would not have been able to do.

We had many excellent local guides to support Garry but it always seemed to be his knowledge that we were most interested in. the only disappointing guide was in Shanghi and Garry made sure that we were given interesting information when the Shanghi guide was not able or not willing to explain things to us. He tried to work very positively with the Shanghi guide.

We could not imagine doing that trip without Garry. We hope that you company recognises his people skills and in-depth knowledge of China. You should do everything in your power to retain him with the Wendy Wu Company. We would hope that your other national tour guides are of the same very, very high standard. We would not hesitate to take another Wendy Wu Tour after this amazing experience.

Just an organisational matter, we would hope that Wendy Wu could select hotels that have Wi-Fi. Only 2 of our hotels had reliable Wi-Fi. The one in Shanghi doesn’t provide Wi-Fi at all. Also a call back system to the Wendy Wu office in Sydney would prevent hanging on the phone for so long trying to make contact. This became so frustrating. We would like to say that all pre trip organisation was also excellent.

Looking forward to another Wendy Wu trip in the future.

Raelene and David MorleyVictoria

Travelled on: Magnificent China

"We had a great time and saw things that will stay with us for the rest of our lives"

Reviewed: Jun 2014

We arrived back in Australia on Friday 30 May 2014 after completing our 21 Day Magnificent China Tour. We had a great time and saw things that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. China was just so different to what most people envisage (us included). The whole tour was just a total eye opener.

The people, the sights and experiences were awesome. We found ourselves thinking what we saw one day or night could not possibly be topped and then the next day would roll around and we would find ourselves being pleasantly surprised to find that they could be topped.

Both my wife and I wish to highly complement our national tour escort Cynthia. She was truly exceptional and professional in her dealings with the tour group and the local authorities, ie. hotels, airline check in staff, restaurants and all of the sites we visited. She was patient, respectful and always well turned out. All of us on the tour wondered whether Cynthia actually slept during the twenty one days of our tour as she was always available to sort out any issues or problems that arose. Whatever you guys are paying her is not enough, she truly deserves more. I spent forty one years in the Australian Military Forces and I recognise true leadership skills and professionalism when I see it and Cynthia has it in “bucket loads”.

I have no hesitation in recommending Wendy Wu Tours to anyone considering a tour to China. We have just finished our Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire whereupon we have stated our interest in visiting the Harbin Ice Festival, the Siberian Tiger Sanctuary and then travelling onto Japan.

Neville and Debbie EnglerNew South Wales

Travelled on: Magnificent China

"Magnificent China Tour – exceeded my expectations!"

Reviewed: Jun 2014

Magnificent China Tour – exceeded my expectations, it was very well organised right down to the little details. It was comfortable paced and yet showcased so much of Chinas treasures, I was very impressed.

Much of the success can be attributed to your national escort ‘Garry’ his professionalism, and expertise in handling a large group (29) of people in such a thorough, caring, patient way. He is a real credit and asset to Wendy Wu Tour.

Bernice GrahamQueensland

Travelled on: Magnificent China

"Thank you to Wendy Wu Tours for a fantastic “China & Chinese” experience"

Reviewed: Apr 2012

I have just completed & returned safely from a wonderful experience with Wendy Wu Tours, doing the “China Splendour” tour.

Firstly I would like to say how professional your company & staff operate your business. And to our magnificent “Maggie” – our China tour guide, how fantastic she was with our group of 15 people. Everything went virtually to plan, & when there were the odd alterations, she arranged everything for us. Even when I was unwell in Beijing, she could not have helped me more to obtain medical assistance. The tour was, as you said, medium pace, & we saw everything we were told & some extras.

Again, thank you to Wendy Wu Tours for a fantastic “China & Chinese” experience, & I would have no hesitation in recommending your company to anyone wishing to travel this part of the world. If you have the opportunity, please pass on my heartiest congratulations to your guide, Maggie, and how well she controlled every situation & us rowdy Australians. Thank you all again.

David WadeyVictoria

Travelled on: Magnificent China

"We cannot sing the praises highly enough"

Reviewed: Apr 2012

My husband and I have just completed a Magnificent China tour with Wendy Wu Tours. We cannot sing the praises highly enough of our National Guide Tom. What an exceptional young man.

Right from the night before our tour commenced he was by my side making my meal times as a coeliac sufferer easy. Always at every meal he would advise me what dishes were suitable for me. He even managed to get some restaurants to prepare special meals for me. This was all such a huge help and put my mind totally at ease. As for the tour we could only describe it as ‘magnificent’. A very aptly named tour. We will be returning to China, hopefully for a Silk Road tour. This is a wonderful country so rich in history and culture. We were fortunate enough to continue on to do a Tibetan Short Stay tour with Wendy Wu Tours. Also we were escorted all the way even in between China and Tibet.

All the airports worries sorted for us by very helpful local guides. Our lovely little guide in Tibet was Pensa who was so understanding when we suffered altitude sickness. Ever keen to inform us of local history and culture he was invaluable. Wendy Wu Tours is a wonderful tour company and we can thoroughly recommend to anyone looking for a magnificent experience to not hesitate to book with them. Thank you Wendy Wu Tours for such special memories and making a lifetime dream come true.

Mr and Mrs PeacockNew South Wales

Travelled on: Magnificent China

"The best way to see China"

Reviewed: Jun 2012

Starting from the outset our travel organiser was extremely helpful with bookings and visas. On our arrival in China our tour guide Sam was terrific and provided excellent service meeting everyone’s needs and providing support and understanding. We could not have wished for a more decided and friendly person. He really made our trip so enjoyable . All our local tour guides were so good, being friendly and informative in every respect. The YR cruise was breathtaking but all places visited were an experience in themselves.

We were fortunate to share our trip with a wonderful group of people from diverse backgrounds. The Chinese people at all our venues, both staff and general population were so friendly and polite and made us welcome. It was a trip of a lifetime and we would highly recommend Wendy Wu Tours as the best way to see China

Though status is regularly updated, availability above is indicative only, not live and hence does not guarantee that space is available on your selected tour when you or your agent calls Wendy Wu Tours to book. Booking early is the only way to ensure availability of your selected departure date.